Unknown Secret
by Hermionehobbit
Summary: Skyla gets a letter from someone named 'Albus Dumbledore'. Ha, that's funny, he sounds like a wizard or something, but that can't be possible, can it? *gasp* he is, and so is Skyla! What is it that he wants her to do for him? Something about the Malfoys?
1. The Letter

Unknown Secret  
  
Chapter 1, The Letter  
  
The letter said,  
  
9, July  
  
Dear Miss Auren,  
  
I would like to speak with you about something very important. If you are wary of coming, as I'm sure you are (I would be too if I had received a letter from a complete stranger asking me to meet them) just be content for now that it has something to do involving your parents. I cannot say more disclosed in a letter for fear of it being intercepted. Meet me in London on July 14 at "The Leaky Cauldron" (I have enclosed instructions on where to find it) to hear more.  
  
-Albus Dumbledore  
  
Skyla stared at the opened letter and re-read it a couple more times before setting it down and staring at the clean, white, orphanage wall. What kind of a person would be sending her a letter, fully expecting her to meet them at a place called "The Leaky Cauldron"? It sounded like a bar where witches went to talk and drink. She laughed at the absurdity of that. My mind's running away with me again, there are no such things as witches.  
  
She looked down at the letter again. She remembered something that the orphanage mistress who handed out letters to people had said in her funny French accent; "Zis was a funny letter meez, it was delivered by an owl". Now, who would send a letter by owl? Probably the same kind of person who would expect her to meet them just like that. She smiled. The kind of person whose name was 'Albus Dumbledore'. It sounded like something she had heard before, a very, very long time ago.  
  
And what was this about her parents? Skyla had barely known them. They disappeared suddenly when she was only a year and a half old. In fact, she only remembered her mother's bright blond hair and laughter and her father's deep voice and smell of…well…she wasn't quite sure what the smell was. No one could seem to tell her exactly what had happened to her parents. Some said they just ran off, leaving her, and others had said they had probably died some way or another. Whoever this 'Albus Dumbledore' person was, he had struck her curiosity.  
  
Now that Skyla had decided that she would go to this "The Leaky Cauldron", she wondered how she would get there. Then she remembered the letter; "…I have enclosed instructions on where to find it…". Looking back in the envelope, she saw another sheet of parchment. It had a map of London and, on a street, a red star labeled "The Leaky Cauldron".   
  
Well, she knew how to find it. Now, how to get permission? The Headmistress of "The Little Ladies Orphanage" wasn't to keen on letting girls out of the building, only on 'Outing Weekends'. She checked the schedule. Yes! There was an 'Outing Weekend' on the fourteenth. They were going to visit a sewing factory, not far from "The Leaky Cauldron". There were so many girls, that she could slip away easily and rejoin them at the end of the tour, like she had done countless times already. Mistress Raiyne wouldn't notice, she never does.  
  
Just then, Lyenna, the head of Skyla's dormitory walked in. She glanced at the unfolded letter on Skyla's bed. "Oooh, look, you finally got a letter, Skylark." She sneered, pulling Skyla's long, blond hair. "Who sent it, the Health Inspector, giving you an F- on cleanliness?"  
  
Skyla scowled at her and quickly folded up the letter, stuffing it in her pocket. Of course, there was always the problem of Lyenna. She prided herself on tormenting Skyla about her parents. Lyenna was not really an orphan, her parents just sent her to live there for a few months at a time while they traveled around the world. They always sent her souvenirs from their trips, including tropical bed sheets, which she gave anyone caught touching them a suspension, which meant they were not permitted to leave the dormitories, except for meals. Being head of the dormitory, she was allowed to do that.  
  
Skyla was the only one in her dormitory who did not know what happened to her parents. In fact no one really liked her. It could be the fact that her parents disappeared, but most likely it was that every time she had gone on an outing, the boys always stared at her. She was exceptionally pretty, though she did not think so. She was rather tall, and had bright, icy blue eyes. Her straight, silky, blonde hair reached her waist and she usually did not put it up.   
  
Another reason that the girls didn't like her was her imagination. She would often think up daring stories where a princess was trapped, and a handsome knight would come and whisk her away. She also wished that the princess was her. She would sit, staring at the wall, annoying others who were trying to get her attention. Now that she thought of it maybe she will actually be whisked away. This 'Albus Dumbledore' could be her prince. Maybe he's a handsome spy, and has come to tell me that my parents were killed in a secret mission, where they were trying to save the world. *Or maybe,* said a voice in the back of her head, *he's a criminal, famous for kidnapping girls and he wants to get you*, but she pushed that thought away.  
  
Just then, the bell rang for the evening meal, and she walked down the stairs, anxiously awaiting Saturday, July 14. 


	2. The Leaky Cauldron

Unknown Secret  
  
Chapter 2, The Leaky Cauldron  
  
Skyla woke abruptly to the sound of a lark outside the window. Some other girls were already awake. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she heard the sneering voice of Lyenna.  
  
"Look Skylark, It's your mother." She said smiling and pointing at the window, where the lark was perching.  
  
"Very funny," Skyla shot back, "but you know, it resembles you most."  
  
"Oh, yeah Skylark?" she said venomously "Well-" but she was cut short by the bell, announcing breakfast. "See you on the outing." she said with a smirk and went downstairs.  
  
Skyla's stomach gave a funny jolt. She checked the calendar and gasped. It was already Saturday the fourteenth. How had the week gone so quickly? She hardly ate anything, she was too nervous. The voice in the back of her head was talking again. *What if he's a criminal? What does he want with you anyway? Are you in trouble? Did your parents have a huge debt? What if…* and on and on.  
  
The whole dormitory filed outside, wearing their best. Skyla checked to see that she had the letter tucked safely in her pocket. They all went down to the subway, with Mistress Raiyn leading them. Skyla felt uncomfortable, as the boy's looked at her. She stared at her feet the whole way. She could feel the other girls glaring at her.  
  
As they got off the subway and walked down the street, she got out her map. Only two blocks from her she thought. She broke quietly away from the other girls, almost running into Kerrisa. She slunk behind a dumpster and let five minutes pass. Then, following her map, walked the two blocks, looking for "The Leaky Cauldron".  
  
She almost passed it, but looked back and saw the sign. It was whether beaten and run down. The sign looked like it said "Tle Laky Caildror". She approached it nervously. This did not look like the most appealing place to be rescued by a knight. Her mind started up again on the what ifs, but she took a deep breath and walked inside. She saw a bar on one side with a toothless bartender behind it, and a bunch of oddly dressed people. Most of them seemed to be wearing robes anywhere from threadbare to rich and heavy. How would she ever find this 'Albus Dumbledore'?   
  
Just then, she heard a pleasant voice behind her. "Miss Skyla Auren, I presume?"  
  
She turned around slowly, and there was a man she would have never thought would be 'Albus Dumbledore'. He was wearing fine blue robes, and had a long, white beard. He had a wise face looked extremely old. He looked at her expectantly.  
  
"I-I, yes, I-I'm Skyla." She said, very nervously.  
  
He smiled at her as if not noticing her uneasiness and said, "Come, sit down and I will tell you why you are here." and beckoned to an empty table. Skyla sat down and looked nervously at him. "First Skyla, there is something you must know." He said, looking intently at her, "You are a witch, as is everyone else here," he laughed, "except for the men of course, they're wizards, as am I."  
  
Skyla just stared at him shocked. This was the last thing she had been expecting him to say. The voice in her head went off again. *What a mean trick, were the girls behind this? Are they just outside laughing at me? Maybe he really is a criminal. If he asks me to get in his car…*  
  
"I understand that you're quite shocked by this," he said casually, as if this was the kind of thing he did every day.  
  
*Maybe it is, maybe he just plays tricks on people, any second now, everyone here will be laughing at you, and any second now he will burst out laughing…any second…*"Uh, y-yeah."  
  
"Well, I will try my best to explain it to you. There are witches and wizards living in this world, and we have kept it secret from muggles- non-magic people-. Now, your parents were also a witch and a wizard. I know you're wondering why I have saved this so long to tell you, well, it's because, I have to admit, that I did not know you were alive."  
  
*What?!*  
  
"Your parents worked to rid the world of the evilest and darkest wizard of our time, Lord Voldemort."  
  
*Who?!*  
  
"Now, one day your parents were cornered by Death Eaters-Voldemort's supporters-, walking home from a nice stroll from the park, and it was assumed that you were with them, for you were nowhere else. Then, I am sorry to say, the Death Eaters…got rid…of your parents."  
  
"What?!" Skyla burst out, "Are you saying that my parents were murdered by…Moldevort's?…henchmen?"  
  
"Yes," he replied, "and it was assumed that they killed you too, but we now know that your mother had placed a spell over you, which made it so that you could not be found with magic. We searched for you, but, being wizards, we used magic and therefore could not find you and assumed that you were dead."  
  
"Then, how did you find me?" She asked.  
  
He smiled and replied, "By pure accident I have to say. One of the members of my staff came across records of you in "The Little Ladies Orphanage", and we decided to investigate."  
  
"Staff?" Skyla asked feeling swamped with all this information.  
  
"Yes," he said smiling, "I am headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now this gets me to the real reason I wanted to speak with you. I would like you to enroll in the school. I daresay you are thirteen now, correct?"  
  
"Y-yes…" she didn't quite know what to say.  
  
"Well, you are a little old, yes, but you'll have to start as a first year." He said, scribbling something on a sheet of parchment with a quill. "Now, your parents, Miss Auren, were actually what you might call spies. They were spying on the Malfoy family."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"The Malfoy family; Lucious, Narcissa, and their son Draco. Now, I would like you to continue their work."  
  
"How?" Now she was feeling a bit scared.  
  
"Well as you probably don't know, Draco goes to Hogwarts. I want you to find out as much as you can about anything his father is doing, and report to me every month. Do you feel you can do that?"  
  
Now she was really feeling scared. Me? Be a spy? Like my parents? *Yes, like your parents, and what happened to them?* Well, I am a witch aren't I? "I-I alright I-I guess"  
  
"Good, then here is your letter. And I guess you should be allowed to visit Hogsmede, I'll send an explanation and form to your Headmistress. Oh yes, do not tell anyone about this conversation. Oh, you'll probably be needing this." He said and handed her a bag, which chinked when she took it. "I'll get Hagrid to take you to Diagon Alley." he said and yelled to the corner; "Hagrid!"  
  
To Skyla's surprise, a large man stood up, a very large man to be exact, and he was draped in a huge moleskin overcoat. "Yes Professor Dumbledore?"   
  
"Hagrid, I want you to take Skyla here to Diagon Alley to purchase her school supplies." Professor Dumbledore said and turned to leave.  
  
"Alrigh' then." he said."Skyla is it? C'mon then." and beckoned her to a door in the back. 


	3. Diagon Alley

Wow, I've gotten this far in two days, just want you to know that J.K. Rowling owns all the characters except for Skyla, Lyenna, Elessa Kyari, and all the girls and women at the orphanage.   
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Unknown Secret  
  
Chapter 3, Diagon Alley  
  
Hagrid led Skyla out the door. All that was there was a garbage can and a wall. How could this be Diagon Alley? To her surprise, Hagrid took out a pink umbrella and tapped a brick three times with it. Skyla gasped as the bricks moved aside to form an arch and past that…  
  
"This is Diagon Alley." said Hagrid. There were rows and rows of shops and people. So much that Skyla just stood there with her mouth hanging open until Hagrid said, "Well, blimey, come on. Ya can' stand there all day gapin'."  
  
"Oh, yeah, right." she said and flushed with embarrassment.  
  
"Now, what does your letter say you need?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, umm…" For the first time she noticed the letter that Professor Dumbledore had handed her. She opened it and saw:  
  
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry  
  
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)  
  
Dear Miss Auren,  
  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  
  
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.  
  
Yours sincerely,  
  
Minerva McGonagall,  
  
Deputy Headmistress  
  
"Owl?" She asked Hagrid.  
  
"Yeah, in the wizarding world, we send letters by owl" He said, as if it were saying; stop signs are red. "What does your supply list say?"  
  
"Umm…" she said, looking at the other list. "I need robes, a hat, gloves, a lot of books, a wand, a cauldron, phials, a telescope, and scales. Oh look, we can also bring an owl, a cat, or a toad. I've always wanted a cat."  
  
"All righ' then, here's Olivanders, you can get your wand here." he said, pushing the door open.   
  
It was a rather dim lighted place. The man at front said, "ello, who are you? "  
  
"S-Skyla Auren" she said nervously.  
  
"Really?" he said with great interest. "Aren't you dead?"  
  
"N-no" she stammered.  
  
"Obviously, obviously…" he said and pulled out a tape measure and it started to measure Skyla by itself. He then looked at the shelves and shelves of long , skinny boxes and pulled one down. He opened it and handed it to Skyla. "Now just wave it." She did and to her surprise, one of the lamps shattered. "Quite all right, quite all right. Try, umm, this one." He said and handed her another. She waved it and it glittered blue and silver on the end. "I thought this one would be it, yes…Ebony, 10 ½ inches, unicorn hair." he said and put it back in the box. "That will be seven Galleons."  
  
"What?" asked Skyla.  
  
"Galleons" said Hagrid."In that bag Dumbledore gave you, Seven of the big gold ones."  
  
"Oh" she said and opened the bag, taking out seven and handing them to the man. Hagrid handed her a bag and she put the wand in it.  
  
They left the store and heard a yell from down the street. "Hagrid!" Skyla tuned to look and from down the alley came running two boys and a girl. One of the boys had red hair and the other had messy black hair and bright green eyes. The girl's hair was brown and bushy.  
  
"Hello!" said Hagrid. "This is Skyla, I'm taking her around to get her school supplies."  
  
"Nice to meet you." said the boy with black hair. "I'm Harry Potter, this is Ron Weasley," he said, indicating the red head, "and Hermione Granger." He said, indicating the girl.  
  
"Hello." She replied shyly  
  
"Well, bye, we have to go meet mum." said Ron, and they went off.  
  
Skyla and Hagrid went through the shops, and got all of her supplies. She still had quite a lot of coins in the bag. She said to Hagrid, "I think I want to get a cat."  
  
"Okay," he said, "the Magical Menagerie is right here" and he walked into the store. There were so many cats to chose from, but finally chose one named Elessa Kyari. She was black with gray striped paws and tail. She went on the subway back feeling quite excited with the way her life was going. 


	4. Hogwarts Express

Unknown Secret  
  
Chapter 4, The Hogwarts Express  
  
Skyla completely forgot that she had missed the outing. As soon as she got back, Lyenna started tormenting her. "Ooooh, you're going to be in trouble now Skylark. Skipping, naughty, naughty." but to her surprise, no punishment came. Skyla stuffed her things from Diagon Alley under her bed.  
  
The rest of the summer passed uneventfully. Skyla was both excited and scared of the coming school year. On August 31, Skyla was more scared than ever. How would she get to Hogwarts? Then the mail arrived. Skyla opened the letter and found a ticket and an explanation of how to get onto the platform. Platform 9 ¾ to be exact. "The train leaves at exactly 11:00. Just walk through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 to reach it." she read aloud. Walk through it? Oh well, it is a school of 'Witchcraft and Wizardry'.  
  
The next day, she took the subway to Kings Cross Station. She put her trunk on a trolley and walked down the platforms, looking for nine and ten. There it was. 'The barrier looks awfully solid' she thought, but took a deep breath and walked through it, closing her eyes.  
  
Upon opening them, she saw an engine with the words 'Hogwarts Express' printed on it. She pushed her trolley and heaved her trunk into the train. She heard a whistle and felt the train start to move. She looked for a place to sit, but all she could find were full. Finally, in the last car, there were a few seats left. She looked at the occupants of the car. It was the same people who she and Hagrid had met at Diagon Alley. "Do you mind if I sit here? I can't find anywhere else to sit," she asked.  
  
"Go ahead." said the bushy haired Hermione.  
  
"Skyla is it?" Ron asked. Skyla nodded. "What year are you?"  
  
"Umm, first." She replied.  
  
"We're all going to be fifth years." Ron said. "Are your family wizards?"  
  
"Well, umm, that's what Professor Dumbledore said. I never really knew my parents, they were murdered by, umm, what's-his-name, Voldemort that was it. Anyway, they were murdered by his henchmen, Dead Munchers or something."   
  
Ron, who had gasped when she said Voldemort, now sat open mouthed at her.  
  
"Death Eaters," corrected Hermione. "So, have you known about wizards your whole life?"  
  
"No, I haven't. I've been living at an orphanage and in July, met with Dumbledore, and he told me everything." she admitted.  
  
Harry, who had been staring at the wall, now turned to her. "So that's why you didn't gasp or do something else when you heard my name."  
  
"Why would I?" she asked, bewildered.  
  
"My parents were murdered by Voldemort too. In fact, he tried to kill me as well, but something went wrong with the spell and all it did was give me this scar." he explained.  
  
Skyla was still looking confused, so Ron said, "Harry is the only person ever known to survive the killing spell, and somehow, You-know-who disappeared. The spell had zapped him of all power, and almost his life."  
  
"Oh." said Skyla, beginning to comprehend. "So, where have you lived all this time?" She asked Harry.  
  
"With my horrible Aunt, Uncle, and cousin." he replied.  
  
"My parents are both Muggles," said Hermione. "It was quite a shock when I got my Hogwarts letter."  
  
"How old are you?" Ron asked, "You look quite old to be a first year."  
  
"I'm thirteen." she replied.  
  
"How are you thirteen and a first year?" he asked.  
  
"Well, Dumbledore said that he just found out I was alive. Everyone believed that I was dead because my mother had put a spell on me that made me undetectable with magic."  
  
"Oh, I get it," said Hermione, "They used a searching spell, but It couldn't find you, so you were presumed dead."  
  
"Yes," said Skyla.  
  
Just then, the door opened and in stepped a boy with blonde hair and two large boys behind him.  
  
"What do you want Malfoy?" spat Harry, but the boy ignored him and was staring at Skyla.  
  
"What is a pretty thing like you doing in here with them? I'm Draco Malfoy, who are you?" he said and held out his hand.  
  
Skyla gasped. Draco Malfoy! She had almost forgotten what Dumbledore had asked her to do. She shook his hand and blushed. "I-I'm Skyla…"  
  
"You're lucky Potter, I won't kill you in front of a lady." He smiled at her and left, the two larger boy's following.  
  
There was an awkward silence, then finally Hermione said, "Well, we'd better change into our robes, we'll be ariving soon."  
  
Soon, Skyla could see a large lake and behind that… she gasped, it was a gigantic castle. The castle loomed closer and closer until finally the train slowed to a stop. She got out and heard a familiar voice. "Firs' years over here, follow me." She then saw the hairy face of Hagrid and went over to him. 


	5. Slytherin?

Unknown Secret  
  
Chapter 5, Slytherin?  
  
"Hello there, Skyla." Hagrid said as he saw her. "Just get in a boat and wait," he said, indicating a bunch of boats along the shore of the enormous lake. She picked one and sat down in it. When everyone was sitting down, the boats, of their own accord, started gliding across the lake. Skyla watched the clear night sky as the stars sailed past. They finally got out of the boats and walked through a couple of large doors. There waiting was a stern looking woman.   
  
"Welcome to Hogwarts first years, I am Professor McGonagall. Now, when I tell you to, you will go through this door and be sorted into your houses. They are Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff." They waited for a few minutes, and then Professor McGonagall picked up an old, pointed hat and a stool and said, "Follow me."  
  
The first years all filed out in a line, following Professor McGonagall. Skyla noticed that she was at least a head taller than most of them. She gazed up at the roof, to discover that there was none. At least, it appeared like there was none, now that she looked closely, she could see the roof's faint outline behind the starlit night sky. There were four long tables with many girls and boys sitting at them. Then, the Professor sat the hat on the stool at the front. A rip on the front of the hat opened, and to Skyla's amazement started singing. It finished with applause from the whole room.  
  
Then Professor McGonagall said, "I would like you to come up one at a time, and set the sorting hat on your head when your name is called. Applebaum, Timothy"  
  
Timothy walked up shaking to the hat. He sat down and set it on his head, after about half a minute the hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!" and Timothy went to sit at the Hufflepuff table amid cheers.  
  
"Auren, Skyla" McGonagall called.   
  
Skyla walked up nervously and set the hat on her head. Then she heard a voice in her head coming from the hat itself. *Ah, yes Miss Auren, the special case. Dumbledore told me about you. Well, it does not seem appropriate at all, but, Dumbledore's orders. * "Slytherin!" it shouted, and Skyla sat down amidst the Slytherins, who were cheering.  
  
Skyla glanced around as Greenbell, Emma was being sorted. At the Gryffindor table, she saw Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were looking strangely at her. She started wondering about what the hat had said. '…it does not seem appropriate at all, but, Dumbledore's orders.' What was not appropriate? She wondered. Her being put into Slytherin? It's not all that different than the others, is it? Then she thought of the song '…Slytherin, for those who will do anything, to achieve what they want, perhaps just a simple ring, which they could often flaunt…' What was that supposed to mean? That Slytherins are greedy and prideful? She wasn't greedy or prideful; at least she didn't think so. Didn't the hat say that it wasn't appropriate, but Dumbledore ordered it? Now why would he…and then she saw the reason that Dumbledore had put her in Slytherin? Sitting a few seats down from her was none other than Draco Malfoy. So that was it! Dumbledore had put her in Slytherin so that she could spy more easily on Draco.  
  
After all the first years had been sorted, Skyla noticed for the first time, that Dumbledore, along with Hagrid, were sitting at another table in the front. There were many other adults there that Skyla assumed were teachers as well. Hagrid's a teacher? Well, it explains how Dumbledore knows him. Then, Professor Dumbledore stood up. "Welcome to Hogwarts everyone, now before the feast I have a few announcements to make…" but Skyla did not hear them. She was too busy trying to avoid Draco's eyes, which were now on her, and was staring at the empty gold plate in front of her.  
  
Skyla gave a start when suddenly Dumbledore clapped his hands, and the plate in front of her was now surrounded by food. She took a couple of helpings, but seemed to have lost her appetite.  
  
When the feast was over, the whole Slytherin table followed a prefect lower and lower until Skyla was sure they were in the dungeons. They stopped at a part of the wall that looked exactly the same as the others. Then the Prefect said "Méchanceté!" and the wall moved aside to reveal a room that had a fire on one side and cozy looking green couches. "Now," said the prefect, "This is the Slytherin common room. The Girl's dormitory is here," he said indicating a door, "and the boy's here."  
  
Skyla went through the door and tuned into the dormitory. She saw her things at the end of her bed, and realized that she was extremely tired. She lie down and fell asleep without changing her clothes. 


	6. Potions

Hey, guess what, though I've tried, I still do not own anyone except for Skyla, Kaira, and Elessa Kyari. J.K Rowling does.   
  
__________________________________________________  
  
Unknown Secret   
  
Chapter 6, Potions  
  
Skyla awoke the next morning to a soft purr and demanding "Meow!" She turned to see Elessa Kyari sitting by her head and begging to be scratched. Skyla rolled over and got out of bed, scratching Elessa under the chin. Elessa purred even louder and nuzzled up to her. Skyla changed and went to the great hall for breakfast.   
  
As she was eating, she felt someone sit next to her. She turned and gave a soft gasp. It was Draco! "Hello," he said, "Skyla was it?"  
  
"Y-yes." she answered.  
  
"How old are you?" he asked.  
  
"I-I'm thirteen," she admitted.  
  
"A little old to be a first year, isn't it?" Skyla nodded, and he didn't push the question further. "Are you allowed to go to Hogsmede?"  
  
Skyla vaguely remembered Dumbledore saying something about Hogsmede. She assumed it was a town or something. "I-I think so." she stammered.  
  
"Then, would you like to come with me next Hogsmede weekend?"  
  
"Uhh…" She wondered what a Hogsmede weekend was, but if he was asking her out on a date…she suddenly got an idea. If I were his girlfriend, wouldn't it be a lot easier to spy on him? *Besides, he is pretty cute. * "A-alright I guess," she said and he left. Then, a question popped into her mind. What am I supposed to be spying about?  
  
To answer her question, a flock of owls flew in and one stopped in front of her with a letter in its beak, not so gracefully landing on a plate of toast. She quickly took the letter and opened it. It said:  
  
Dear Miss Auren,  
  
I'm sure you are wondering what you are supposed to be doing. I want you to give me as much information as you can about what Draco's father is doing. To report to me, all you have to do is write me a letter every month, even if it is saying that you could not find out anything, I won't be displeased. In fact I am very proud of you for doing this, as I am sure your parents would have been.  
  
-Albus Dumbledore  
  
'It's like he knows everything,' Skyla thought. The letter had just answered all of her questions, and then some.  
  
She then took out her schedule, which she had found on her trunk that morning and looked at it. "Lets see, we have Potions, then Transfiguration, then Defense against the Dark Arts," she muttered aloud to herself. "How am I going to find all of these things?"  
  
Thankfully she spotted another first year sitting across from her. Her name was Kaira Emmot, and together, they managed to find the dungeons in which potions were held. Skyla and Kaira sat down at a table together. Then, the potions teacher arrived. He had greasy black hair and somewhat pale skin.  
  
"My name," he said, "Is Professor Snape. I am the potions teacher and also head of Slytherin house. This year we will be working with the basics of potion making, which, I should not call basic, because some of the concepts will be quite complex. Now, take out a sheet of parchment and a quill…" The rest of the class period was spent taking notes.  
  
"Well, that wasn't too bad." remarked Kaira as they headed out of class.  
  
"Too bad?" said Skyla, "My hand is killing me." and they both laughed.   
  
Turning the corner, they saw a large crowd and heard yelling. "Go away Malfoy, and shut your mouth, we're all dieing of your stinking breath." Skyla and Kaira wormed their way up near the front of the crowd, where they had a better view. There was Draco, the two larger boys, Harry, Ron and Hermione, who was looking very uncomfortable.  
  
"Oh yeah Potter?" Draco said with a sneer, "What about your breath? Halitosia!" he yelled and a blast of yellow light hit Harry, which made pungent fumes leak from the corners of his mouth.  
  
"Finite!" yelled Hermione, pointing at Harry, which made the fumes stop. "Can we please just leave them alone? We're going to get caught."  
  
At that very moment, Professor Snape rounded the corner. "What have we got here? Potter, fighting in the halls again? That'll be twenty points from Gryffindor-"  
  
"Please Professor," begged Hermione, "Malfoy started-"  
  
"Keep your foul tongue in your mouth Miss Granger, that will be another ten points from Gryffindor. Now I suggest you all get to your classes before I take away more points." he glared. Skyla thought this was most unfair, and almost said something about it, but saw the look on Snape's face and decided it would be best to keep her mouth shut.  
  
Harry glared at Snape then at Draco and stalked off, the crowd dispersing and Ron and Hermione following. Draco glared at the back of Harry's robes and reminded Skyla much of Lyenna.  
  
He then turned and saw Skyla. "I'm sorry you had to see that, but Potter was acting up again and I had to set him straight," he said, smiling a sweet smile at her. She forced a smile back, even though right now he disgusted her with his attitude of how nothing here was his fault at all, and it seemed that Snape thought that as well. So this is how things work around here. If you're mean to Harry, you get praised, if you try to help him you get punished, how horrible.  
  
So she and Kaira walked off, looking for transfiguration.  
  
__________________________________________________________________  
  
Wow, I think I've gotten pretty far in this short amount of time. Please review and tell me what you think. J 


	7. Hogsmede

Unknown Secret  
  
Chapter 7, Hogsmede  
  
The only other rather exciting thing that happened that day was in Defense Against the Dark Arts. They had all sat down, when they heard a big thump from the office behind the classroom. Out from the office stumbled a lady, whose long, brown hair was in a ponytail, at least some of it was. The rest was hanging down in her face and she looked around at the class, hurriedly putting the hair back into its tie. "Sorry, I've been having a little trouble with a bunch of nasty tempered fairies. I am Professor Avaeran, your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." she said pleasantly, "I would like you to take out your books, and turn to the taming creatures chapter, in the fairy section and read that. Then I will ask you to write a report on how you would tame a fairy, and the next time we meet, you will be pairing into groups of three or four, and will work together to tame a fairy." There was another thump from the office and Professor Avaeran rushed to the door, saying, "Start reading, I'll be right back." and went inside, shutting the door quickly.  
  
Someone in the back snickered sarcastically. "Well, that was a great lesson, don't you agree?"  
  
The rest of the month passed rather smoothly. And, on the last Friday, all anyone could talk about was the trip to Hogsmede the next day. Skyla had finally found out what a Hogsmede weekend was as well. It was a time when Hogwarts students third year and up were allowed to visit the all-wizard town of Hogsmede, and Skyla, being thirteen, was allowed to go. Saturday morning found her at the gates of Hogsmede with Draco.  
  
"Have you ever been to Hogsmede before?" He asked her.  
  
"Uh…no." she admitted.  
  
  
  
"Well, why don't you let me show you around?" He said, and led her into a store with big letters on the front spelling out 'Honeydukes'. She gaped at the rows and rows of candy with strange labels like Bertie Botts Every flavor beans, and the even stranger Cockroach Cluster. She had never seen so much candy in her entire life. Draco laughed at her expression and said, "Yeah, you can't find many places like Hogsmede anymore, with all the muggles taking over. It's all the fault of the muggle lovers, like Dumbledore, and filthy mudbloods like Granger." then, on a happier note "I'll buy you something, what do you want?"  
  
Skyla wasn't sure that she wanted anything from him now, and what was a mudblood? Now she knew why Harry had been fighting Draco. He wasn't all that nice, was he? "I uh, no that's okay."  
  
"Don't be silly, of course I'll get you something. What do you want?" he said again. So, they spent the next half an hour, looking at all the candy. She finally decided on a box of Every Flavor Beans.  
  
After that, he took her to look at Zonko's Joke Shop, and the Shrieking Shack. Then, he brought her into a place called The Three Broomsticks. There were tables near the sides, and a long bar behind which a lady stood in a sparkling green dress. "You take a seat, and I'll get us some drinks." Draco said, and Skyla sat down at a table. She had just remembered again what Dumbledore had asked her to do, and this was as good a time as any to ask him about it. Draco came back with two mugs and set one in front of Skyla. "Butterbeer." he said simply.  
  
"So, umm, how's you're family?" she asked a little nervously.  
  
"Well, my father," he said with pride, "Has been working on getting a higher spot at the ministry. I reckon he'll become Junior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic by the end of this year. My father is very good friends with the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. I've met him a few times myself, and he was very impressed to hear that I was the Seeker for Slytherin. You do know that I am, don't you Skyla?"  
  
"Yes," She answered, thankful that Kaira had told her all about Quidditch. Draco really is a stuck up snob, she thought.  
  
"There's a game next week, I expect you'll be going." he said, and Skyla nodded.  
  
Just then, Harry, Ron and Hermione walked in, and again stared strangely at Skyla.  
  
"C'mon Skyla," said Draco, glaring at Harry, "We'd better leave, It's getting late." and he stood up and walked out the door, Skyla following.  
  
--------------------------------------------------  
  
Harry, along with Ron and Hermione, walked into The Three Broomsticks. To Harry's surprise, he saw Draco sitting with Skyla, talking. She glanced up at them and so did Draco. Harry again wondered at the strangeness of this. Draco sneered at Harry, said something to Skyla and walked out, Skyla trailing behind.  
  
They sat down with their Butterbeers, and Hermione said what Harry had been thinking. "Isn't it strange how Skyla's in Slytherin and going out with Draco? I mean, we met her first with Hagrid. What was she doing with him anyway?"  
  
"That's just what I was thinking," said Harry, "She didn't seem, well, Slytherin-ish on the train either. There might be something more here that we don't know."  
  
"A secret?" asked Ron.  
  
"Yeah," said Harry, "an unknown secret." 


	8. Dirty Quidditch

Unknown Secret  
  
Chapter 8, Dirty Quidditch  
  
The next Thursday night, Skyla remembered that she hadn't written to Dumbledore, and this was the last day of the month. She quickly got out a quill and simply wrote:  
  
Dear Professor Dumbledore,  
  
I have learned that Draco's father is on close terms with the Minister of Magic, and that Draco thinks he will become Junior Undersecretary to the Minister within a year. I hope that is enough.  
  
  
  
-Skyla Auren  
  
Skyla awoke to the sounds of cheering coming from the common room. She quickly put on her bathrobe and ran down the hall to find a crowd with a part in it through which seven people walked. They were wearing green robes and carrying brooms. Then Skyla suddenly remembered; today was the Quidditch match! She didn't really know whom Slytherin was playing against. 'I guess it will just be a surprise' she thought. She spotted Draco at the end of the line. He met her gaze and winked. Skyla then realized that she was still in her pajamas, and hurried down the hall to get dressed.  
  
After breakfast, the whole school filed out to the Quidditch pitch. Skyla found Kaira and they sat down amid the crowd of cheering Slytherins. There was a booming voice coming from a boy with a megaphone sitting near Professor McGonagall. "Welcome students and teachers alike. To start off the season we have a match between Slytherin and Gryffindor!" The stands cheered.   
  
'So we're playing against Gryffindor' Skyla thought.   
  
"And here are the teams now!" the boy yelled, as from opposite ends of the field came players in either green or scarlet robs carrying their broomsticks. The stands cheered and screamed even louder.   
  
Then Madam Hooch, the flying instructor, came out carrying a box. "Mount your brooms." she yelled and opened the box, letting two black balls and a smaller golden one out to fly around the field. "Kick off!" she yelled again and all the players zoomed up into the air. Madam Hooch then threw the fourth ball up and one of the scarlet clad girls caught it.   
  
The game went on and Skyla watched as person after person put the quaffle through one of the six golden rings high above the ground. Squinting, Skyla saw that Draco was circling the field and so was…she gasped…Harry! He must be Gryffindor's seeker. Currently Draco was looking at Harry with a sneer and saying something that Skyla could not understand. Harry yelled something back that sounded like "You couldn't catch it if it was bright pink and the size of your head!"  
  
The boy with the megaphone, whom Kaira had told her was Lee Jordan (Kaira had an older brother who used to be in Gryffindor) was now yelling; "Katie Bell has the Quaffle now, she's zooming towards the goal and…THAT WAS ON PURPOSE!" The whole crowd had groaned as Katie's broom had been jolted up when one of the Slytherin beaters hit it with their club, whacking her in the mouth and nose. There was a whistle and Lee yelled, "Penalty to Gryffindor!"   
  
Skyla looked up at the scores and saw that Slytherin was fifty points behind Gryffindor. The game went on, as foul after foul was made by Slytherin. Skyla wondered how one team could be so mean. By now, all of the team members of Gryffindor had been injured except Harry, who was still circling the pitch. So was Draco.   
  
Then she saw a glint of gold near one of the chasers. Evidently, Draco and Harry had too. They both shot towards it, but Harry's broom was pulling ahead. It looked as if Harry was going to catch it…WHAM! Harry's broom had been knocked out form under him by a swift hit from Draco's. Harry was now hanging by a hand, and before the whistle could be blown, Draco had grabbed the snitch. There was booing coming from one side of the stands and tumultuous cheers coming from the Slytherins around Skyla. She wasn't sure what to think and just sat there with shock.   
  
"Slytherin wins because of that-" Lee obviously was not pleased as he let off a string of swear words. Professor McGonagall pulled the microphone away from him and gave him a look that said 'No matter how much he deserves it, I will not tolerate that language.'  
  
After the school had filed back in, Draco caught up to Skyla. "Well, we won." He said happily "what do you think of that?"  
  
'Oh, I think you're a disgusting rotten cheater who will do anything to get what he wants, even if it means hurting someone.' She was tempted to say, but tried hard to put up an at least semi-real looking smile. It was harder than she thought. "Great." She said falsely in a strained tone. "I'd…uhh…better be going I have to…ah…I have something to do." she said and rushed off, really regretting that she'd been put into Slytherin. 


	9. Nasty Slytherins

Unknown Secret  
  
Chapter 9, Nasty Slytherins  
  
Professor Avaeran's class was divided into two groups: Those who liked her and those who…didn't. Thomas Dorins and Tarlei Savrim were the "leaders" of the ones who didn't like the Professor. They would play little tricks or burst out with rude or unkind comments, much like Thomas did the first day with her. Skyla liked Professor Avaeran and thought it quite mean when anyone did anything to her. Professor Avaeran had done nothing to anyone that Skyla knew or had heard of.   
  
Today Thomas and Tarlei were snickering at the back, no doubt planning another one of their tricks. Then Professor Avaeran walked in. They started walking back to their seats. Professor Avaeran had reached her desk, and just as she was about to sit, she looked down. Skyla could see why the two leaders were snickering. On the seat were four long tacks. Skyla was sitting at just the right angle so that she was the only one who could see the chair. Professor Avaeran saw her looking. She winked at Skyla and with a flick of her wrist the tacks vanished. "Sit down please class." she said pleasantly and sat down. Skyla turned to look and Thomas and Tarlei. They both looked at each other, confused as to why the Professor didn't do anything, and they sat down.  
  
"Ow!" yelled Thomas, and Tarlei shrieked. When they stood up, Skyla could see two tacks on each of their chairs. She turned back to see Professor Avaeran give a faint smile. Skyla couldn't help but grin. Then the Professor, acting as if nothing had happened, instructed the class to open their books. The rest of the month was met without any problems in the class. Skyla had now grown to really like the Professor and would often come to visit just for the fun of it.  
  
On the last Friday of the month, Skyla remembered that she had not written to Dumbledore yet, nor had she learned anything more from Draco about his father. It was after she had finished her homework that she got out a parchment and envelope to write her letter. She looked around to make sure she was the last one in the common room and wrote:  
  
Dear Professor Dumbledore,  
  
I have not learned any new information about Draco's Father. Draco has not said anything other than what he said last month. I'm sorry that I couldn't find out any more from Draco.  
  
-Skyla Auren  
  
As soon as she put her quill down she yawned widely and was asleep before she could lay her head down on the table.  
  
Skyla woke up to see people heading out of the common room to go to breakfast. She looked down to the envelope beside her. Funny, she hadn't remembered putting her letter in the envelope, but she was half asleep at the time. She took the letter up to the owlery and went down to breakfast.  
  
As she was eating she saw Draco glance at her with a strange look that she couldn't read. 'What was that?' she wondered.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------  
  
Potions class seemed to be worse than ever for Harry. Snape was in one of his foul moods again. They were working on making an antidote to Doxy venom in pairs, and Snape decided that he would chose the partners. As luck (or non-luck) would have it, Harry was with Draco.   
  
Draco seemed to be in an even worse mood than Snape. He just sat there not doing anything and throwing nasty glares at anyone who he happened to look at. When Snape came by to see how they were doing, Draco said, "I've been doing all the work around here, Potter is just sitting there and letting me do everything."  
  
"What!?" Harry yelled at him, "It's you that's been sitting there. You always blame everyone except yourself."  
  
"Now Potter-" Snape said, but Harry cut him off.  
  
"I'm sick and tired of Malfoy getting away with everything, and you…" but Harry stopped and saw the looks on Snape's and Draco's faces. 'Oh great,' he thought, 'Now I'm going to get it.'  
  
"Detention Potter, you know better than to speak back to a teacher, and If you don't I'm sure that a weeks worth of detentions will teach you." Snape said with a venomous glare. Draco just sat there smirking, but Harry could still see that Draco was horribly mad at something, or someone, and he didn't think it was himself. 


	10. Secret Revealed

Unknown Secret  
  
Chapter 10, Secret Revealed  
  
That night, Skyla was walking back to the common room from an evening chat with Professor Avaeran. It's spooky walking around this place at night she thought. She almost screamed as a shadow loomed up in front of her, but as it got closer she saw it was only Draco. What was he doing here?   
  
"Skyla," He said, "Mind if I have a word?"  
  
"Uh, Umm…sure." she said. What could he want?  
  
He indicated an open doorway and she cautiously stepped inside. It was a small, unused classroom. Draco stepped inside, leaving the door open. He looked at her with what seemed to be a mischievous glint in his eye, Skyla couldn't really tell because it was so dark. She wondered why he didn't turn the light on. With a serious voice he said "So Skyla, the little spy."  
  
What!? How could he have known? I never said anything about it to anybody. Maybe he doesn't really know, he's just guessing. "W…what?"  
  
"You heard me. You've been using me to get information about my father and then been tattling to Dumbledore." His eyes were now flashing and she could have sworn if the light was on they would be red. "I don't like being used." He now stepped forward and she backed away into the wall. What was he going to do to her? She couldn't get out the door because he was blocking the way.  
  
"H-how…"she stuttered.  
  
"How did I know?" he asked, then held up a letter. Skyla gasped as she saw her own handwriting.   
  
"Your letter to Dumbledore." He said maliciously. "So you're a little spy for Dumbledore? I've written to father and he and I have decided what to do with you." he smirked and stepped even closer.  
  
Skyla was shaking, what was he going to do? Draco took one more step so his face was close to hers. "Goodbye love" he whispered. Skyla felt a sharp excruciating pain in her stomach. Draco ran out the door and Skyla looked down. She screamed as she saw the hilt of a knife sticking out of her stomach and felt warm, wet stickiness. She felt the world slipping away as she slid down the wall and everything went black.  
  
--------------------------------------------------------  
  
Harry heard the scream as he was walking back from detention with Snape. His wrist was sore. Snape had made him re-label most of the jars. Who knew Snape had so many jars? Harry wondered what or who could be screaming at this time of night and ran towards the noise. He turned the corner to where he had heard the noise come from. There was a door ajar on his right. He cautiously crept into the room and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.   
  
There! There was a body lying on the floor. Harry wondered if it was dead and went even slower towards it. It was a girl with long light colored hair. Where had he seen that before? He gasped. Skyla! Now that he was closer he could see the hilt of a fancy knife sticking out of her stomach. Was she dead? There was blood on the floor, but Harry could see the faint soft rise and fall of her chest. Who did this? Now what was he supposed to do? He couldn't possibly have time to go get help, or to carry her to the hospital wing. Who knew how much time she had left?  
  
Then it hit him. They were near Dumbledore's office. He could take her there! Harry gently picked her up trying not to hurt her anymore than she already was. He walked down the hall, thankful that she didn't weigh a lot. He turned down the corridor where Dumbledore's office was. 'Stupid!' he thought, 'I don't know the password.' but just as he thought that, the gargoyle blocking the entrance to Dumbledore's office sprang aside and standing there was…Dumbledore!  
  
Dumbledore looked at Harry carrying Skyla and smiled in his calm way. "Bring her in Harry." he said as if he were expecting this. Harry brought her up and set her on the desk as Dumbledore told him to. "Who did this?" He asked Harry.   
  
"I don't know." Harry replied, "I was walking back from detention when I heard a scream and I found Skyla lying on the floor like this. I didn't think I'd have time to get her to the hospital wing, so I brought her here. Will she be alright?"  
  
"She'll be fine." Dumbledore reassured him. "We'll just have to figure out what happened when she wakes up. She's going to have a scar from this, even I can't stop it from scarring." All this time he was smiling in his calm, polite way. Harry just shook his head, a little amused at him. 


	11. Outcast

Unknown Secret  
  
Chapter 11, Outcast  
  
Skyla awoke lying on something hard and flat. Her vision was a little blurred and she felt groggy. "Ah, hello Skyla, how are you feeling?" she heard a pleasant voice say. She squinted and saw Professor Dumbledore smiling at her. She looked around and saw she was lying on a desk in the middle of some kind of office with pictures all over the walls. 'What am I doing here?' she thought and sat up. She felt a small pain in her stomach and suddenly she remembered what happened. "Where am I?" she asked.  
  
"In my office" Dumbledore replied. "You're fine now, but tell me, how did that lovely knife come to decide that its sheath was in your stomach?"  
  
'How can he always seem to make everything so calm?' she thought. Then to Dumbledore she said, "It was Draco. He found out what I was doing and cornered me in a classroom. He said something about he and his father deciding what to do with me."  
  
Then another voice came from behind her. She jumped and turned her head to see Harry standing there. "What were you doing that made Draco try to kill you?" he asked. She looked at Dumbledore to see if she should tell, but Dumbledore had already started speaking.  
  
"Skyla here was doing me a favor and spying on Draco to get information about his father." he explained to Harry before turning to Skyla to ask; "How did he find out?"  
  
"He had one of my letters that I had written to you," she said. Then the voice in her head asked *Wait a minute, how did he get the letter in the first place? * 'Good question' she thought and then remembered; "He must have seen it on the table when I was sleeping and took it and sealed the envelope so I wouldn't notice." she said aloud.  
  
"Well it is very late, and you two need some sleep." said Professor Dumbledore, "I daresay that Skyla cannot go back to the Slytherin dormitories, for safety reasons you see. Harry, you'll have to take her with you to the Gryffindor tower and see if Miss Granger is awake. She'll take Skyla up and see if she can find her someplace to sleep. We'll see more about this tomorrow."   
  
He ushered them to the door and Skyla and Harry went out. Skyla followed Harry up a flight of stairs. *Hey, what was he doing in there? * asked the voice. She decided to ask him. "Why were you in there?" she asked.  
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
Harry looked back and realized that she probably didn't know what happened after she fainted, so he explained; "I heard you scream walking back from detention with Snape. I went to see what it was and found you on the floor. I didn't know what to do, so I took you to Dumbledore's office. He took out the knife and did a healing spell, then you woke up." All this time they were walking to the Gryffindor tower and when they got there Harry woke the Fat Lady up and said the password. She was too tired to inquire about Skyla and swung open. They went inside and just as Dumbledore had suspected, Hermione and Ron were there, looking anxious.  
  
"Harry have you any idea what time it is?" asked Hermione franticly, and then she and Ron saw Skyla.  
  
"What's she doing here?" asked Ron.  
  
Harry suddenly realized how tired he was and did not want to have to explain everything, so he simply said "I'll explain everything in the morning, you'll just have to trust me. Hermione, can you find Skyla someplace to sleep? Like I said I'll explain everything tomorrow." He watched as Hermione looking bewildered just nodded and beckoned to Skyla and they went up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. He led the way up to the boys' with Ron following. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.  
  
-----------------------------------------------   
  
Hermione had made Skyla a bed on the floor of one of the dormitories. Skyla woke up to sounds of complaint. "What's she doing here?" asked one of the girls.  
  
"Yeah, why is a Slytherin sleeping in our dormitory?" protested another.  
  
"I- umm, you see…" stumbled Hermione, trying to explain. 'She can't explain, can she?' Skyla thought, 'she doesn't even know.'  
  
"You're not supposed to be in here." said one of the girls to Skyla. Skyla sighed and thought 'It's just like the Orphanage, isn't it? I thought things would be different here.'  
  
She turned to the girls. "Don't worry, I was just leaving." said and sighed again.   
  
She walked out of the room and started down the stairs when Hermione called "Wait, Skyla…they just…I…" but Skyla ignored her and went on walking through the common room, trying to ignore the stares from the other Gryffindors in the common room as well.  
  
She stepped out of the portrait hole and didn't even look at the Fat Lady, hoping to avoid more comments and a strange look. *You should have known it couldn't last. Things like this always happen.* said the voice in her head. 'But why? What have I ever done to be treated like an outcast?' she felt tears stream down her face, but she kept walking, not even knowing where she was going. She soon found herself out on the Hogwarts grounds. *What are you going to do now?* 'I don't know' she thought, 'What is there to do?' and sobbed even harder.   
  
She looked around and realized that she had walked halfway around the lake already. She sat down by a bush and looked at her feet. She heard a rustle in the bush beside her, and before she could look to see what it was, there were ropes around her wrists and ankles and a gag in her mouth. She tried to scream, but all that came out was a muffled sound. She managed to turn a little to see blonde hair and a face resembling Draco's before there was a blindfold on her face and she heard a spell being uttered. "Stupefy" and everything went black for the second time in two days. 


	12. Missing

Unknown Secret  
  
Chapter 12, Missing  
  
Harry found Hermione yelling out the portrait hole, trying to stop someone. "What's going on?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, Harry, I…you see…Skyla, she-she ran off because the girls in the dormitory were yelling at her to leave and-and I couldn't explain because, well, I didn't know and…" She blundered.  
  
Harry cut her off and said, "I suppose I owe you an explanation." Just then Ron came down the stairs and stood to hear what Harry had to say. "You see, last night I found Skyla on the floor with a knife in her stomach, and I took her to Dumbledore. He fixed her and then she explained that Draco had found out she was spying on him to get information about his father and he stabbed her. Dumbledore told me to take her here because she couldn't go back to the Slytherin dormitory in case Draco was waiting for her or something like that."  
  
"Ohhh." Said Ron awkwardly and Hermione nodded her head in comprehension.   
  
"We'd better get down to breakfast, maybe she'll be there." suggested Harry.  
  
But Skyla wasn't there, nor was she in her usual classes and her friend said that she hadn't seen her since yesterday. They asked Kaira where she could have gone and she told them that Skyla sometimes visited Professor Avaeran, so they decided to stop in to her office during lunchtime.  
  
The Professor was sitting at her desk correcting papers when they entered the classroom. "Hello," she said pleasantly, "What can I do for you?"  
  
"We were just looking for Skyla," Harry explained, "She's been missing since this morning and we were wondering if she was here?"  
  
Professor Avaeran gave a thoughtful frown and replied "I haven't seen her since last night. Why would she have run off?" So they told her what had happened since the night before and in reply she frowned even more. "This seems serious, I'd better inform Professor Dumbledore at once, you three 'd better come with me." She turned to the door and they followed her to the headmaster's office. "Acid Pops" she told the statue and it jumped aside. The Professor walked up to the headmaster's desk and said "Excuse me Professor Dumbledore, but these three have informed me of the happenings last night and I thought it best to tell you that Skyla has been missing since this morning."  
  
Dumbledore looked thoughtful and asked "Has the castle been searched?"  
  
Harry stepped forward and said "She ran off this morning and wasn't at breakfast or any of her classes. Her friend Kaira told us that she hasn't seen Skyla since last night."  
  
"I see, I see." Dumbledore replied and turned to one of the paintings. "Could you alert the castle paintings to be on the look out for Skyla Auren? She's a tall first year Slytherin with blonde hair and blue eyes." Then he redirected his attention back to the visitors. "Well this may actually be a convenient time for her to get lost, since I happen to have a guest visiting who would easily be able to find her trail."  
  
At this, something emerged from behind the desk. It was large, black, and furry. The black dog perked his ears forward and changed back into a human with long black hair and eyes with the faintest haunted look. "Sirius!" Exclaimed Harry and Professor Avaeran at the same.   
  
"Harry…Saerenna!?" He cried and hugged them both, stopping to look at Professor Avaeran. "It's been so long." he said and hugged her again.  
  
"I know," she replied with a grin on her face, "What, sixteen years?"  
  
"At least." he smiled and turned to Harry, Hermione, and Ron, who were looking confused. "Saerenna here is my cousin, Dumbledore told me she was a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, but I hadn't got a chance to see her until now." He turned back to her "You've grown."  
  
"And you haven't?" she said sarcastically. "Dumbledore told me that you visited sometimes, I was hoping to see you. And an Animagus too, you could have said something." she said with mock scorn.  
  
"What're you going to do about it, give me detention little miss teacher now?" he taunted.  
  
She folded her arms and glared at him. Then suddenly she shot out her hand and pushed him over and he fell onto the desk and almost hit Dumbledore. Dumbledore smiled and looked over the rim of his glasses. "Now if you two would stop trying to taunt each other, we have another matter on our hands just now. The disappearance of Miss Auren."  
  
"Right." said Sirius getting up and shooting one last glare at Saerenna before turning to Dumbledore with an air of standing at attention. Hermione snickered behind her hand. "What do you need me to do?"  
  
The headmaster put a calm look on his face. "I would like you to see if you can smell where Skyla went. If you need a smell reference, Skyla was lying on this desk yesterday."  
  
"No problem." said Sirius and changed back into the large, black dog that was his animal form. The Dog put his paws onto the desk and sniffed deeply.  
  
"Do you have the scent?" Harry asked. The dog gave a soft 'woof' and walked to the door sniffing the ground.  
  
"I believe we should start where Skyla was last seen." Dumbledore suggested.  
  
"The Gryffindor common room." Said Hermione and led the way up to the Gryffindor Tower. They got to the Fat Lady and Sirius applied his nose to the ground. He gave another soft 'woof' and started down the hall, the others following. Classes were in session, so there were very few people in the halls.   
  
They followed Sirius all the way down to the grounds, where the dog stopped for a bit to regain the scent, then continued onward toward the lake. They followed him about halfway around the lake. Then he stopped, sniffed around a bush and shivered, reverting back to human and uttering one word; "Lucious" 


	13. Prisoner

Unknown Secret  
  
Chapter 13, Prisoner  
  
Skyla opened her eyes to find that there wasn't anything to see. At first she thought that she had gone blind, but then her eyes adjusted to find that she was in a cold stone room. The floor she was laying on was rough rock, as were the walls. She slowly stood up and felt the roof barely brush her head. A pang of claustrophobia hit her, and she put her hand on the wall closest to her and walked around with her fingers brushing the wall. The two reasons she did this was first to see if there was a door and second to see how big the room was.   
  
Skyla stopped when she felt a snag against her fingers. Feeling around it more thoroughly, she found it was a small door with a grate near the bottom through which no light came out. 'Then where is the light coming from?' she asked herself. The room was about three paces wide and five paces long, and there in the middle of the ceiling was another grate. She looked out through the grate and saw a full moon shining on thick, overgrown grass and brambles that surrounded the grate and as far as she could see.  
  
Skyla turned around to see the faint outline of some sort of building, but she could not tell exactly what it was. She sat down in a corner of the room, though now she was starting to think of it as a cell. 'Why am I here?' she thought, 'What do they want with me, in fact, who are they anyway?'   
  
*Well, * said the cynical voice, *you were spying. They probably want to kill you or torture you or something, and I'd have to say that They or at least He would be the object of your spying. A certain father of a certain Draco Malfoy, who you so foolishly had a crush on. How does he repay you? He stabs you; and when you don't die like you were supposed to, out of pure luck because someone did something not to good to get detention I might add, his father decides that he wants to dispose of you himself and here you are. *  
  
'Ohhh, I wish you weren't so blunt,' Skyla thought, 'so you're saying I owe my life to a detention? Or at least what short life I have now.' she added desolately. 'What am I supposed to do?'   
  
Just as she finished that thought she heard the creak and screech of rusty, hardly used hinges and some flickering light could be seen through the grate at the bottom of the door. To play it safe she lie down and pretended to still be asleep. The echoing footsteps of two people sounded and soft voices could be heard; "You just leave her to me," said a cold voice, "I don't care if it's going to attract Dumbledore's attention. Lets see if she's awake." The cell door creaked and squeaked open, and pale flickering firelight showed in.  
  
"She's asleep sir," grunted another rough voice.  
  
"It's good to know you have eyes, Crabbe," said the first voice sarcastically. "Leave the food by the door and we'll come back when she's awake to question her. I still want to know how much she told Dumbledore." The footsteps moved away and the cell door shut with the clicking sound of a lock. Skyla moved over to the food, found it was edible and ate it, contemplating what the voices had said.  
  
*Looks like they are going to torture you* the derisive voice ridiculed. "Shut up and go away" Skyla told it. *I can't* it mocked. *I'm you, you're me, we're I* 'Oh great. Now, on top of everything else; being told I'm a witch, spying as a favor, being stabbed, cast out, kidnapped, becoming a prisoner in a cell, and now tortured; I'm going crazy.' *Yes you are. * It said in its most annoying fashion.  
  
The next morning the sun peaked over the brambles and shined it's light into the cell where Skyla was sleeping. She woke up, expecting to hear the voices of people over in the common room and the heat from the fireplace, but was jolted back to reality of the stone floor and eerie silence. Before long, the silence was interrupted by a screech of a door and footsteps. They were coming for her. 


	14. Unrehearsed Rescue

Unknown Secret  
  
Chapter 14, Unrehearsed Rescue  
  
Skyla's own cell door creaked open and in stepped a dark figure. The light was dim, so she couldn't see the face that well, but she could see long, hair and somewhat sunken eyes. 'Oh great is this their professional torturer or something.' she thought in despair.  
  
*Well, it was nice knowing you. I shouldn't say I told you so, but I DID tell you so. * The annoying voice mocked. 'Shut up, you're really starting to bug me.' she thought morosely.  
  
"Nice to meet you Skyla Auren." the man said in what she could almost mistake for a friendly way.  
  
'What's he playing at?' *He wants to gain your trust so that you tell things willingly, but if not, heh, it won't be pretty. * 'Thanks for that note of encouragement, I'll be sure to frame it on my wall' she thought sarcastically.  
  
The man smiled at her. 'Smiled?' "Come, we have to get out of here, the others can only hold a distraction for so long."  
  
'Whoa. Others? Distraction? What is he talking about? Oh well, guess it can't hurt.' *Oh, but it can, and it will. * 'Very funny.'  
  
"Umm, O-okay" She followed him out the cell door and into a damp passage with another door at its end. They took the door at the end into yet another dark stone passage with brackets and torches lining the cold walls. There was a winding staircase at the end, on which the man started going up. "Uh, excuse me, but who are you?" she asked as she followed him onto the stairs.  
  
"Oh, forgive me. Sirius Black, at your service." He extended a hand of greeting which Skyla hesitantly shook.   
  
"What did you mean about others and distraction?" She asked.  
  
"Oh, yes, we all got together to save you, the others are creating a distraction while I get you out of here." he replied.  
  
"Who are 'we'?" she asked again.  
  
"Amoran, Lerets, Norse, Saerenna, and Harry," he counted off, "Remus couldn't come because of the full moon."  
  
"Harry…?"  
  
"Potter." He said absently. "Now where's that key?" They had come upon another door, though this one was not so gloomy looking. It was obvious that they were higher up. 'Harry came here to save me?' she thought, bewildered. Sirius pulled out a key from a pocket. "Here it is." He inserted the key into the slot. The door opened into a fancy lit living room.  
  
"Where are we?" Skyla asked, looking around in awe at the fancy furnishings that gave off an unpleasant feeling, almost as if there was a large secret that they were keeping.  
  
"This is Malfoy Manor." Sirius replied in disgust, as if it were a vile taste that he wished to rid his mouth of.  
  
"So it was Draco's father who kidnapped me." She reflected. Now she knew why this place gave off such a malicious aura. "What do we do now?"  
  
"I'm not quite sure. This is kind of an unrehearsed rescue. Come, we must get out of here quickly. I don't know if-"   
  
At that moment a side door burst open and out ran two people Skyla didn't know and Harry. "Run!" one of the men yelled. "Saerenna and Amoran can only hold them off for so long!" Without knowing what was happening, Skyla found herself being half pulled and half dragged by her hand towards a very large and ornate door marking the front entrance. Outside the door was a dark blue car with an odd logo on the side. She was rudely shoved into the back seat with the two men on one side and Harry on the other. Surprisingly there was enough room for all of them.   
  
She looked towards the massive house just in time to see a bright green flash. A few seconds later both front doors were thrown open and Sirius quickly sat down in the front seat and started the car while two people sat down on the other side. One was another man and the other…"Professor Avaeran!" Skyla cried.  
  
"Hello Skyla," The Professor breathed "How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine" She replied as the car started forward. Soon she noticed that not only did the car go forward, it also started to go up and soon they were flying more than a few yards above the ground. "I didn't know that they made flying cars."  
  
"They don't," the man sitting up front said, "We borrowed this one from Arthur Weasley, but he'd appreciate if no one was told about it. By the way, my name is Amoran Magesmith."  
  
Skyla nodded in greeting. Sirius turned his head back and said, "Oh, yes. Skyla, I haven't introduced you to everyone. This is Meron Lerets," he indicated the brown haired man sitting next to her, "and Erit Norse," to the man next to Meron. "You've already met Harry and Saerenna."  
  
"Saerenna?" Skyla asked inquisitively to Professor Avaeran.  
  
"Yes, my name's Saerenna. I'm Sirius' cousin." she replied. "Are you sure your all right?"  
  
"I'm fine, you came just in time. Why did you come anyway?"  
  
Meron Lerets turned to Skyla and explained, "Well, the first reason to save you. I knew your parents, they were good people. The second reason was it was an excuse to get into the Manor. We've all been wondering what went on in there. The third reason is because Dumbledore told us to. We're not exactly sure why, but there seems to be something deeper here than we know."  
  
The rest of the ride was mostly silent. Harry had not said a word. Skyla started to feel uncomfortable, but released her tension when she finally saw the tall moonlit towers of Hogwarts rising up in the distance. 


	15. A Merry Christmas

Unknown Secret  
  
Chapter 15, A Merry Christmas  
  
'Wow, Christmas morning already' Skyla thought as she sat up to an empty dormitory. So much had happened since that fateful night when Draco stabbed her. She got to put the Sorting Hat on again, this time for real sorting. She happened to be put into Ravenclaw. So now she had her own bed again this time in a different and somewhat nicer atmosphere, but the dormitory was empty these couple of weeks because almost everyone was home for the holidays. Skyla was staying at Hogwarts because the Christmases at the orphanage were always so boring.  
  
She wasn't expecting presents, but as she looked down at the foot of her bed, she found a few of them. "Who could have sent me these" she wondered. They were all in colorful wrappings. Skyla leaned over and picked up the top one. It was addressed to Skyla from Saerenna Avaeran. She quickly opened it and inside she found a matching set of blue sparkly gloves, scarf and a hat. There was a note too. It said 'I know teachers aren't supposed to have favorites, so I'm giving this to you as a friend. Merry Christmas Skyla.'   
  
Skyla smiled at it then picked up the next package. This one was from Kaira and contained a bunch of chocolates. It too had a note. 'Hope you're having fun in your new house. My mom makes chocolates so I thought I'd send you some, they're delicious. Merry Christmas, Kaira Wood.'  
  
Skyla picked up one of the chocolates and bit into it. 'Kaira was right, these are delicious.' she thought and grabbed the next one. The tag said 'To Skyla, From Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Merry Christmas.' 'That was nice of them' she thought as she opened the packaging. Inside were an assortment of candies from Honeydukes. She set those aside and picked up the last present.  
  
It was small and taped onto it was a note; 'Skyla, Your parents asked me to give these to you If anything happened to them. I think they belong to you now. Have a happy Christmas. -Amoran Magesmith' Skyla hastily tore open the wrappings and found inside a small, silver, heart-shaped locket. Underneath that was a picture. She picked up the locket first and opened it. Inside were two pictures. The first was of a handsome man with brown hair and grey eyes. Underneath the picture was written Jeroc Auren. The second was a women with long, straight blonde hair and icy blue eyes. Skyla gasped, it was like looking at a mirror. It was amazing how much her mother looked like her. She read the name under the picture; Lydessa Black. Skyla gasped again. 'My mother was a Black?' she asked herself. She picked up the picture and looked again on her smiling parents, this time they looked somewhat older and her mother was holding a small baby with blond hair and blue eyes; Skyla. The picture felt oddly thick, as if it was more than just a picture, but Skyla had another question in her mind. 'If my mother was a Black, does that mean I'm related to Professor Avaeran?'  
  
She thought about the question all the way through breakfast, and afterwards she headed up to Professor Avaeran's office. As usual, the Professor was sitting behind her desk. Skyla came right out with her question, "Did you know my mother was a Black?"  
  
Professor Avaeran smiled at Skyla and said, "I was wondering when this question would come up. Yes, I did. Your Great-Grandmother was my Great-Aunt."  
  
"So we are related. That would make us…" Skyla asked.  
  
"Distant cousins." Professor Avaeran finished. "Your Great-Grandmother was quite attached to her name and insisted her son keep it. How did you find out?"  
  
"Mr. Magesmith sent me these." Skyla answered and held out the locket and picture.  
  
"You can call him Amoran, he won't mind." The Professor said still smiling. "So he did keep those. I thought he had gotten rid of them after everyone thought you were all dead. I guess he kept some hope."  
  
The Professor had a sort of dreamy quality to her voice when Skyla mentioned Amoran. 'I bet she has a crush on him.' She thought to herself and tried not to giggle. Still, some amusement must have showed on her face because the Professor asked, "What's so funny."  
  
"Nothing." Skyla replied and straightened her face. "I'd better be going. Merry Christmas, and thank you for the present" She said and walked out of the office towards the common room, thinking that this was one of her better Christmases. 


End file.
